Saddle Up

Evening Ma’am *tips hat*

Well, today sees my debut in the wonderful world of western fiction. I grew up on a full fat diet old western movies, they were my mom’s favorites and both Clint and The Duke loomed large in my childhood. So when Shotgun Honey guru and all round good guy Ron Earl Phillips mentioned he was setting up The Big Adios, my first thought was hell yes I want some of that. My next thought was can I actually write a western? I had never tried before so there was only one way to find out.

The end result is a story called ‘Seeds’ it’s a mean tale of blood and revenge (aren’t they always).  I was stoked when Ron accepted it for publication and I was over the moon when I found out that Zelmer crew mate, Chuck Regan was doing the artwork to go along with my story. I can tell you that Chuck’s art is seriously awesome; but I leave it up to you to decide about my words.  

The Big Adios is a new site and it needs your support, so get along there and read, comment and if you feel like slinging a few words yourself, submit.

Seeds – The Big Adios    

Roadkill Review: Brown’s Requiem by James Ellroy.

Everybody knows James Ellroy right? His L.A. Quartet provides the hard-boiled benchmark that defines a genre for many. Even if you haven’t read him, you will at least be aware of the movie L.A. Confidential, based on his novel of the same name.

This work pre-dates that movie by some sixteen years and is in fact Ellroy’s first novel.  Set in contemporary Los Angeles it follows the trials and tribulations of a hard bitten PI, Fritz Brown in his attempt to unravel a complicated case of arson and blackmail.  These old school noir staples are put to good use by an emerging Ellroy and the same wonderful spare prose and clipped dialogue that mark his later works are here in spades.

Brown’s Requiem was written by a man still honing his craft. If you look carefully you will see it in the plot, which at times seems jumbled and is prone to wander. There is a lot of the author’s own life mixed in here too; his love of golf and classical music are to the fore throughout and it can feel a little like you are being force fed with Ellroy’s self indulgence. That said this is still James Ellroy and Brown’s Requiem is a novel worthy of his name.

If you only plan on reading one Ellroy book then it’s hard to look past the big four. Choose The Black Delilah of my personal favorite The Big Nowhere. But if you want an enjoyable and interesting look at how he came to write them, start here.

ADR Hits The Streets

ALL DUE RESPECT is the sort of anthology you dole out to yourself piecemeal. You read “Even Sven” and then shake your head, looking off into the distance, trying to make sure you start breathing again. You read Matt Funk and Patti Abbott the way you eat a good meal in that restaurant you go to for your anniversary. You savor the characters, the plot undertones. When a Joe Clifford character says that something “tastes like a cat’s ass,” you nod that, yeah, that character probably has that experience. Full of great stories from David Cranmer, Thomas Brown, Fiona Johnson, Ryan Sayles and more, ALL DUE RESPECT is a book you’ll read a story at a time, maybe one a night, like that after-dinner drink you can’t put down.
- Steve Weddle, editor, NEEDLE Magazine
 
Highlighting lowlifes in hardboiled homilies – these stories stick it in and break it off. Tender as a brick, subtle as a Molotov Cocktail.
– Jedidiah Ayres author of Fierce Bitches

You can kick off your weekend with this bad boy for only 99c/ 77p

Hammer down at Amazon or Amazon UK

School is in Brit Grit style

Traditionally the good ole’ USA has always been the land of the free and home to all things hard-boiled, pulp and noir. But nowadays there’s plenty of blood being splattered across the pages on this side of the pond too.
Gone are the days of quirky old ladies solving cozy mysteries from the comfort of their fireside armchairs. We've got a new crime wave of writing talent in the UK that’s busy kicking down those doors of convention.
Paul D. Brazill tells it like it is in this excellent article, so pull up a chair people, Brit Grit School is in.

Paul D. Brazill - What the hell is Brit Grit?

He Ain't Heavy

I spent yesterday sitting in the dark of a power outage, randomly clicking the buttons on my dead computer mouse and staring at a blank screen. While I was trying to remember just what it was I did with my time before I got hard wired to the Internet machine, the legend that is Joe Clifford published one of my flash fiction stories over at Out of the Gutter.

 

He ain’t heavy is a tale of sibling rivalry and perhaps also of brotherly love. Roy and Tony have a very special kind of relationship, one that seems to endure no matter what.

A big shout must go out to Joe for his help with edits and his continued support of my dubious writing ability. Thanks man.

Monday is a crap day the world over, so why not take five, grab yourself a coffee and head across to OOTG. I can’t promise that reading He ain’t heavy will make your day, but if you do it will certainly make mine.

In the tough times of the lowlife, lost like a rain dog trying to find his way home, I've always heeded the advice of Tom Waits: Never trust a man in a blue trench coat. Never drive a car when you're dead...

As we say in the hood, brother, true that...

He Ain’t Heavy by Chris Leek – Out of the Gutter Online

Used Cars - Revenge isn't always sweet

'Mister on the day the lottery I win, I ain't never gonna ride in no used car again.'

Well, that's what Springsteen said, but for my part I would be straight down to the dealership for a vintage Challenger, like the one in my latest story.

 

I'm delighted to be back up at 'Near to the knuckle' with this one. Daz and Craig run an exceptional site. Just one look at the talent tells you that there are some seriously good stories on offer. A J Hayes, Gareth Spark, Joe Clifford & Chris Rhatigan (to name just a few) have all graced those hard boiled virtual pages. I only hope my short and nasty blast of exhaust gas is worthy of such fine company.
It's probably only the on set of my long awaited mid-life crisis, but there's just something about the engine note of a big block V8... But you should know revenge isn't always sweet, sometimes it's brutal: Used Cars

Review – Beautiful, Naked & Dead

I told you I had a few things I thought you'd like, well I think I saved the best until last. Anyone who has the good sense to know 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' is the finest Clash album automatically gets my vote, but this piece of bad-ass rocked harder than Joe Strummer ever did. 

“There is nothing quite like the cold taste of gun oil on a stainless steel barrel.”

The first line of Josh Stallings debut novel 'Beautiful, Naked & Dead' tells you most of what you need to know about this hard boiled wonderland.

Moses McGuire is damaged goods, a casualty of war and so are those he leaves bleeding and broken in his wake. His revenge fuelled ride through the strip clubs of LA and the brothels of Nevada gives Mo just enough of a reason to keep from eating a bullet, besides there are plenty of others who are trying to save him the trouble.

'Beautiful, Naked & Dead' is fast paced, well honed and purrs like a V-8 with the hammer down. There are no punches pulled here, only some damn fine writing. I know I'm late to this party, but like Josh told me “ It's an all night stale beer on the floor strip-club party, nobodies ever late to it.” So if you haven't seen the show, slip a couple of dollars in the G-string and get yourself a lap dance you'll never forget: Beautiful, Naked & Dead

Drinks at Romero's

                                                                              

How about this for a very cool start to the week. Today I'm up at that legendary home of hard boiled bad ass, Shotgun Honey. I have been pretty stoked about this ever since the honoable Mr. Phillips told me I'd made the cut.

Drinks at Romero's is the story of Kelly, a hard working girl just trying to make her living in a man's world.

I've saved you a stool at the bar and ordered another jug of Strawberry Margaritas, so won't you join me for a drink?
Click here to raise your glass: Shotgun Honey - Drinks at Romero's

Review - Nevada Blue

John Tisley's Nevada Blue is a Vegas crime thriller, played out on the bad end of Fremont.

First published in 1997, and set in the early 1970's (bow-chicka-wow-wow) the story contains a lot of well worn elements; hit men, dirty cops, mobsters with stupid names (Jimmy Jinx, oh really, come on), cheap booze and cheaper women. The whole thing feels dated rather than retro. It's like pulling on your old bell bottom jeans, only to find that now they're two sizes too small.

The clipped 'hard boiled crime' style of writing just didn't work for me and I found myself cringing at some of the tired cliché’s liberally scattered through the narrative. Tisley is an English writer and the one thing that really jarred with me was his use of common British phrases, which you just don't hear in the US. When did a LVPD sergeant ever use the word 'scarpered' or suggest that he might have 'dropped a bollock' ?

On the plus side, I know the streets on which Tisley's characters walk pretty well and I did get a faint whiff of uncomfortable nostalgia from reading Nevada Blue; either that or the sink is blocked again.

Nevada Blue is not the worst book in the world and if you can get past the hackneyed prose there is a reasonable story to be had here. I'm just not sure if it's worth the effort.